Betting Tips: Croatia vs England

With both sides having seen more goals in attack than at the back recently, Al Hain-Cole expects a high-scoring UEFA Nations League clash in Rijeka

Croatia and England will be hoping to earn their first UEFA Nations League points when they meet at the Stadion HNK Rijeka on Friday.

Both teams have suffered abrupt comedowns following impressive World Cup campaigns, losing to Spain in their respective tournament openers.

Thrashed 6-0 in Elche, Zlatko Dalic's men are available at 9/5 (2.80) with bet36 to bounce back by coming out on top in front of their own fans.

The Three Lions fell to a more narrow 2-1 defeat at Wembley, and are also priced at 9/5 (2.80) to come out on top in this one.

These sides needed extra-time to separate them after a 1-1 draw at the World Cup semi-finals, and you can get odds of 11/5 (3.20) on them cancelling each other out once again here.

World Cup regulars Dejan Lovren and Ante Rebic have returned to the squad after missing the defeat to Spain, although Sime Vrsaljko, Marcelo Brozovic, Borna Barisic, Lovre Kalinic and Duje Cop have all withdrawn through injury.

Luke Shaw and James Tarkowski are injured and been replaced by Ben Chilwell and debutant Lewis Dunk, while James Maddison, Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho have all been handed their first senior call-ups.

Despite the heavy defeat in Spain, the Vatreni are sure to be welcomed onto the pitch as heroes as they make their first appearance on home soil since reaching this summer's World Cup final.

Having found the net in each of their last 20 home games stretching back to 2013, they should give the expectant home crowd at least a goal to cheer against a visiting defence with just three clean sheets to their name in 12 fixtures.

Considering Gareth Southgate's men have also been on target in 11 of their previous 13 matches, odds of 10/11 (1.91) offer solid value on them sharing the scoresheet with Croatia for the seventh time in eight encounters.

Odds correct at the time of writing. Please gamble responsibly.